Clothes-wringer.



H. PLETSCH.

CLOTHES WRINGER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31,

Patented Feb, 20,1917.

HENRY PLETSCH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS,

ASSIGNOR T0 J'UDD LAUNDRY MACHINE A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

CLOTHES-\VRINGER.

Application filed March 31,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY PLETsoII, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Chicago, countyof Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Wringers, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to clothes wringers and more particularly to poweroperated clothes wringers. The improvement seeks to provide simple andeffective means for guarding the wringer rolls so that the operatdrsfingers cannot be caught between the power driven rolls and theinvention consists in the features of in'iprovement hereinafter setforth, illustrated in the preferred form in the accompanying drawingsand more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 7

.ln the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a wringer with theimproved safety guards applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical crosssection of the same.

The wringer frame com rises, as usual, side posts 1 connected at tieirupper ends by a crossbar 2 and at their lower ends by a cross-bolt 3.The wri'nger rolls 4 are mounted on shafts 5 and the latter arejournaled in suitable bearings mounted 'in ways formed in the side posts1 of the frame. As usual, springs 6 engage the bearings for the upperwringer roll. The ends of a cross-bar engage the upper ends of thesprings and are in turr engaged by the adjusting screws 8. The wringeris provided with a reversible drip board 9 having slotted brackets 10fixed to its ends and by which the drip board is mounted upon thecross-bolt 3. Metal flanges 11 fixed to the ends of the drip board arearranged to engagethe lower ends of U-shaped metal brackets 12 that arefastened to the inner faces of the side posts 1. The board can bereversed inusual manner to deflect the drip water in one or the otherdirection.

The parts thus far described may be of any usual or suitableconstruction and suitable means may be provided for driving the \vringcrrolls in opposite directions from a motor.

ln placing the clothes in the bite of the wringer rolls, the operator'sfingers are brought closely adjacent the same. To prevent them frombeing caught in the power driven rolls, upper and lower safety guardsSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1917. 1913. Serial No. 757,935.

are arranged on one side of and above and below the bite of the rolls,so that the operators fingers cannot be readily brought in contacttherewith. But the arrangement is such that clothes may be readilypassed into the bite of the rolls. To prevent the binding of the clothesbetween the guards, one of the guards, and preferably the upper one, isfree to yield to and from the other and,

in order that the/clothes may be passedthrough the wringer in oppositedirections, the safety guards are arranged on opposite sides of therolls and are shiftable into and out of operative position, so that thesafety guards on the exit side of the rolls can be moved out of the way.

The safety guards preferably comprise upper and lower rolls 13 and 14formed of wood or other suitable material and provided with pintles '15at theirends and by which the guard rolls are journaled in upper andlower pairs of arms 16 and 17. In the preferred form shown, the pairs ofarms are connected by wooden cross strips 18 and 19, the cross strip 18between the upper pairs of arms 16 being arranged above the upper safetguard roll 13 and the cross-bar '19 being arranged immediately below thelower safety guard roll 14. These bars and the pairs of arms formU-shaped supports for rollers.

The upper ends of the arms 17 are pivotally mounted upon outwardlyprojecting lugs 20 on the upper ends of the U-shaped brackets 12 and thelower ends of the arms 17 are provided with laterally projecting stoplugs 2L which are arranged to engage the outer faces of the side postsI. The arms 16 of the U-shaped support for the guard roller 13 the sidepost 1 by pivot pins or studs 22 and the lower ends of these arms areprovided with laterally projecting stop lugs 23 which are arranged toengage the upper ends of the arms 17.

A pair of guards are side of the wringer, but, in operation, the guardsand the supports therefor on the exit or discharge side of the wringerrolls are swung upwardly out of the Way, as shown at the right in Fig.2, will not interfere with the free passage of the clothes from thewringer. To hold the guards in this inoperative position, one of theside posts 1 of the frame is provided the safety guard arranged on eachimmediately swinging,

so that they.

are connected to the inner faces of with spring clips or catches 24.Each of these spring clips is arranged to engage one of the arms 17 ofthe support for the corresponding lower guard roll and thus hold it inelevated, inoperative position. In this position, the ends of the arms17 engage hangs vertically in position below the pivotalpoints ofsupport. The lower guard is thus held in this position and its movement.toward the wringer rolls is limited by the 20 engagement of the lugs 21on the arms 17 with the outer faces of the side posts 1, as shown inFig. 1. Furthermore, in this position, the lower ends of the arms 17engage notches or seats 25 in the flanges 11 of the reversible dripboard and lock the same in position.

The positionof the upper guard roll. is

determined and its' movementtoward the wringer rolls is limited by theengagement of the lugs 23 of the arms 16 with the upper ends of thearms. 17. In this position, the

4 arms 16 of the support for the upper guard are inclined outwardly to aslight extent from their pivots 22. By reason of this arrangement, theupper guard 1s free to yleld or rise vertically 1f the clothes bunch upbetween the guards, so that the latter will not interfere with the freepassage o the clothes through the wringer. The arrangement is suchthat-the guards will notinterfere with the ready engagement of theclothes with the wringer rolls, but are sufficiently close together inoperative position to prevent the operators fingers from coming incontact with the wringer rolls. Inasmuch as the frame or pivoted armswhich sustain the upper safety guard 13 are pivoted to the main frame ata distance above the journals of the wringer rolls, the main frameserves to hold the safety guard 13 so that it will resist combinedvertical-'a'udinward pressure and will yield under combined vertical andoutward, pressure. Hence, as the clothes are drawnbetween'the..wringei-rolls, any

excess mass of clothes entering'between the guard rolls l3 and 14 willtend tolift-the 7 upper guard roll 13, swingin it upwardl;

and outwardly, but when the operators hand, in pushing the clothestoward the wrin er rolls, contacts with the upper guard roll 3 and 1n sodolngexerts an upward and inward pressure upon the guard roll, thisguard roll will resist the n'lovelneut (it the operators hand andprevent it passing .NYiththe clothes into the bite of the wringer rolls.The upper guard roll thus serves as a positive and constant warning tothe oper ator against permitting his fingers to pass between the wringerrolls. .The guards are associated with the reversible drip board in sucha way that they can only be lowered to operative position on theentrance side of the wringer, and in operative position, the support forthe lower guard locks the drip board in proper position. For example, ifthe parts arearranged as shown in Fig. 2, the guards on the left handside of the wringer must be raised to inoperative posi-- tion before thedrip board can be reversed and the latter must be reversed before theguards on the right hand side can be lowered to operative position..

It is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the details set forthwithout departure from the essentials of the invention as defined in theclaims.

I claim as my invention 1. In a clothes wringer, the combination withthe frame and the wringer rolls mount ed thereon, of a pair of safety grds movably mounted on said frame to shift into and out of operativeposition on one side of and above and below the bite of said rolls, oneof said guards, in operative position, being free to move from theother.

2. In a clothes wringer, the combination with the frame and the wringerrolls mounted thereon, of upper and lower safety guard rolls movablymounted on the frame and arranged to shift into and out of operativeposition on one side of said wringer rolls, said upper safety guardroll, in operative position, being free to yield and move from said.lower guard roll.

3. In a clothes \vringer, the combination 'with the frame and thewringer rolls mounted thereon, of upper and lower safety guardspivotally mounted on said frame to swing into and out of operativeposition on one side of and abox e and below the bite of Said wringerrolls, one of said guards being free to move from the other guard toincrease the gap between the same," and a catch for holding said guardsin inoperative position.

4. In a clothes wringer, the combination with the frame. and the wringerrolls mounted thereon, upper and lower pairs of arms 'pivotally mountedat their upper ends'at the sides of said frame, upper and lower safetyguards carried respectively by said pairs of arms and arranged to swingtherewith lnto and out of operative position on one side of and aboveand below the bite of, said wringer rolls, one of said guards being freeto move from the other.

5'. Ina clothes wringen'the combination with the frame and the \vringerrolls mounted tlier-eo1i,i1ppei' and lower pairs of' arms pivotallymounted at their upper ends at the sides of said frame, upper and lowersafety guards carried respectively by said pairs of arms and arranged toswing therewith into and out of operative position on one side of andabove and below the bite of said Wringer rolls, said arms havingstoplugs for limiting the movement of said uards toward said wringer rollsand a catch for holding said guards in raised, inoperative position.

6. In a clothes wringer, the combination with the frame and the wringerrolls mounted thereon, of upper and lower U-shaped supports pivotallymounted at their upper ends on one side. of said frame, upper and lowersafety guard rolls journaled in said supports and movable therewith intoand out of operative position on one side of said Wringer rolls, saidupper guard roll being free to move from said lower guard roll toincrease the gap between the same and means for holding said frames andguard rolls in raised, inoperative position. i

7. In a clothes wringer, the combination with a main frame and wringerrolls mounted therein, of a safety guard arranged in front and above themeeting line of said Wringer rolls, a movable frame for sustaining saidguard in a manner permitting it to shift into and out of operativeposition, and means for holding said guard and movable i'mme rigidlyagainst combined vertical and inward pressure, said holding meanspermitting said guard to yield under combined vertical and outwardpressure.

8. In a clothes wringer, the combination with a main frame and wringerrolls mounted thereon, of two pairs of safety guards each comprisingupper and lower guard members arranged in operative position above andbelow the bite of said wringer rolls, one pair of said guard membersbeing at the front and the other pair at the back front of the upperwringer roll, a movable:

frame for sustaining said guard, said movable frame being pivoted at itsupper end to the main frame above the journals of the \vringer rolls,and means for holding said movable frame and safety guard rigidlyagainst combined vertical and inward pres sure but permitting said guardto yield under combined. vertical and outward pressure, and a guardarranged beneath said first mentioned guard and in advance of thewringer rolls.

HENRY PLETsorL Witnesses:

O. C. Avrsus, ELEANOR HAGENOW.

